Forex news from the European trading session - 13 January 2020
Headlines:
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 8 January +16.7% vs +1.7% prior
- ECB's Lagarde: Bitcoin is a speculative asset
- ECB's Lagarde: We are monitoring exchange rate movements very carefully
- ECB's Lagarde: December economic projections are still very clearly plausible
- ECB's Villeroy: We are closely following the negative effects of euro exchange rate
- BOJ reportedly considering downgrading view of economy amid state of emergency
- German health minister: It will not be possible to lift all restrictions in February
- Japan coronavirus advisory panel approves adding 7 prefectures to state of emergency
- Germany reports 19,600 new coronavirus cases, 1,060 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- GBP leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities a little lower; E-minis down 0.3%
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 1.119%
- Gold flat at $1,855.05
- WTI up 0.4% to $53.45
- Bitcoin down 1.1% to $34,314
The push and pull in the market continues as the dollar is keeping higher in trading today ahead of a crucial US CPI report at the bottom of the hour.
Equities were more tepid and dropped slightly on the session while Treasury yields didn't do a whole lot and are keeping a little lower after the retreat yesterday.
There wasn't anything too notable in the European morning as investors wait on the inflation data later and Biden's fiscal package unveiling tomorrow.
EUR/USD eased from 1.2200 to 1.2161 while USD/JPY pushed up from 103.75 to 104.00 as the dollar recouped some ground following losses yesterday. Meanwhile, AUD/USD also fell from 0.7770 to 0.7735 and is contesting its key hourly moving averages now.
The key pair to watch remains USD/JPY and that is still largely limited by key resistance trendline levels just above the 104.00 handle for the time being.
Looking ahead, we'll see if the US CPI data has anything to shake up the reflation narrative later or else we may have to wait on Biden tomorrow. In the meantime, look out for more Fedspeak (Brainard, Clarida) as well to follow later in the day.
